Coming out
by 5UP3RN47UR4L
Summary: "Let them watch", he continued speaking softly and quietly to Malfoy's ear. "Let them gossip, look down and judge."


Harry was excellent at reading people's body language – which was a quite important talent in his line of work as an Auror – but his specialty was decoding what was going on in Malfoy's head by just the way he _held _his head. Harry knew what every sigh, crooked eyebrow, shift in posture, tense or relaxed muscle and line in his face meant. Their months together had taught him to read Malfoy as an open book.

And right now, as they were standing in line outside of the most popular restaurant in town, Malfoy's stance screamed _not happy_ so loud Harry almost felt sorry for his boyfriend.

"Merlin, why did I let you talk me into this", Malfoy muttered under his breath. "If you wanted to humiliate me you could have just spanked me again but _nooo_…"

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes for Merlin knew how many times that night.

"Would you just cheer up. I'm not doing this to humiliate you, I'm doing this because it's our six months anniversary and it's time people see us together already. I'm tired of sneaking around and hiding in the house every night."

"Well, _you_ don't have sneak around and hide. It's not _you_ who people look down on and judge every time you step outside. In their eyes you'll always be the Boy King and I'm just a scabby Death Eater no matter what we do so I don't see the point in this", Malfoy grumbled in return.

To be honest Harry couldn't really argue with that. It was the sad truth that even though the war had been over quite a while now people hadn't forgotten – nor were they ready to forgive – all the horrors Voldemort and the Death Eaters had put the wizarding world through. They didn't care Malfoy had been released from all the charges – mainly due to Harry's testimony – because it was easier to discriminate him and all the other former Death Eaters. How Harry saw it was that Malfoy had paid his price for his actions by losing his father to the Kiss.

But Harry really was tired of holing up in the house. He hadn't sacrificed all those things to free the wizarding world just to find himself in a situation where he couldn't walk the streets with the person he loved and cared about. It shouldn't have mattered that person had been related to Death Eaters. They couldn't build a new, better, society if some people still were second class citizens.

"It's not about changing peoples' minds, it's about the _right_ which says we can walk, hold hands and kiss in public", Harry frowned.

Malfoy's eyes widened almost comically. "You try to snog me, Potter, and I _will_ punch you."

"Oh really? What if I do this?" Harry said teasingly while stepping behind Malfoy, so close he could almost feel Malfoy's body heat radiating through his winter cloak. "Or this?" He continued by wrapping is hands around Malfoy's torso – which automatically tensed up – and intertwining his fingers over Malfoy's abdomen so he couldn't struggle free. Not without attracting even more unwanted attention anyway.

"Will you punch me now?" Harry whispered so that only Malfoy could hear him.

Malfoy shivered in his arms which Harry supposed had something to do with his warm breath making contact with his cold reddened ear and neck. His body was stiff as a stick, shoulders taut and Harry bet his lips were pressed together in a tight line.

"Stop it, you stupid git", Malfoy spat under his breath. "Let me go, people are watching."

If possible Harry tightened his hold on Malfoy.

"Let them watch", he continued speaking softly and quietly to Malfoy's ear. "Let them gossip, look down and judge."

"Please Harry." Malfoy's voice was almost pleading now. Almost. "Let me _go_."

"I know this is hard for you". Harry went on keeping his voice calming, not caring about Malfoy's interruption and desperate sound. "I know it's hard for you to get out of the house. I know you hate being in public places, with or without me. But this _has_ to stop, Draco. _I _will stop it if needed."

"You can't make me!" Malfoy's voice was a bit louder than a whisper this time. His body had started to tremble slightly – with fury most probably.

"But I won't make you go through it alone", Harry carried on. "Do you really think those vows we changed six months ago were just verbiage to me? You're just going to have to suck it up and trust me to be there for you."

With that Harry let go of Malfoy and stepped out of his personal space. He believed he had made his point loud and clear; they were not leaving just because Malfoy was afraid of people and felt he couldn't rely on Harry. If Malfoy needed Harry to remind him of what being in a relationship meant, so be it.

Just as Harry had let go of the other man the line moved on and it was their turn to get in. The warm air inside the restaurant hit their frozen faces like a pleasant cloud starting to melt down their fingers and bringing feeling back into them. There was a soft classical music carrying from the dining room area among some delicious smells.

Harry handed their cloaks to the doorman and hurried to grab Malfoy's hand before he could escape to the quiet, remote table reserved to them. Malfoy scowled at their joined hands and then at Harry who just smiled sweetly and signed toward their table with his free hand while saying loud enough so that the couple people near them could also hear: "Shall we, love?"

**The end.**


End file.
